Having a Graphic novel collection has become a mostly accepted practice within public libraries. However, very few libraries, at least in my experience, collect comic books. I am currently going through the process of proposing that my library start a comic book collection and I thought sharing this process and idea might be beneficial for some out there.
While we do contain the trade paperback versions of a variety of comic titles in our graphic novel collection, our TAB (Teen Advisory Board) and I both think that our young adult patrons would be better served if we collected the comics themselves when they come out. This way, the patrons would be able to read the comics when they come out instead of waiting months for the story arc to be completed and released in a trade. Also, having this collection will help young adults who are spending their money on comics to have the option of saving that money and reading them at our library. Not to mention, if it is the library’s job to collect what its patrons want to read, then for young adults that means collecting comics because for many young adults comic books are a preferred type of reading.
So how would this type of collection work? The answer to that is simple; just like a periodical collection. There is very little difference between a comic book and a magazine. However your library handles popular magazines, those same policies and procedures should work just the same for comic books. Comics also cost about the same as a magazine, or less, usually averaging between about $2 to $4 dollars an issue. If you can buy an item for just $2 and it circulates even 5 or 6 times, that was $2 dollars well spent.
If you can find a place to order them and have them delivered great, but getting the titles straight from your local comic book store seems to be the way to go in my mind. Few sources could be more valuable in establishing this collection then your local comic book store owner. These owners will know everything you could want to know about what titles are popular, which ones might be pushing the limits, content wise, for your community and anything else you would like to know. The best part is that comic store owners are usually very excited to partner with libraries, and are often even willing to offer discounts, which is the magic word for many libraries.
The inclusion of a comic collection could really go a long way in appealing to young adults, and potentially bringing new people into the library. There are some libraries out there that have been doing this successfully. One such example would be the Kalamazoo Public Library in Kalamazoo, MI.
If anybody out there reading this has started such a collection or has one in their library, I would love to hear how it has worked for you. Any info that can be used to advocate for a collection like this would be helpful. I will be sure to keep you all posted as I hopefully get to go through this process.
del.icio.us is a social bookmarking network that allows you to organize, tag, and publish bookmarks for multiple sites on the internet. With installation of the del.icio.us browser applet, a simple click saves any web site to your bookmark list.
While playing around on the intarweb tonight, I decided to browse all the public tags on del.icio.us that are related to teen library services. I plugged in tag combinations such as teens and libraries or YA. After several attempts to pull up a heavily used tag, I found that we lack a consistent label to describe young adult library related sites.
After which I thought to myself, “Why not use the Alt. Teen Services blog to suggest a tag uniformity?” So this brings me to the point where I propose that we tag our teen librarian related bookmarks as teenlib. Then we can build a happy collection of young adult library related bookmarks. del.icio.us generates rss feeds for public tags, so it will be easy to subscribe to our teenlib collection with an RSS reader.
I should probably take some time to explain the value of social bookmarking, but instead I’ll refer to a simple article that explains the service:
UPDATE: Maybe we should come up with a schema for tagging our teenlib items. I’m thinking every web site related to teen librarianship should be tagged as “teenlib” so that we have one unifying tag for all items. But we could also have tags that break down the resources into smaller groups. For example, we might want tags for web sites relating to teen programming or teen literature (teenprograms / teenlit) ??
What types of web sites should be grouped with a specialized tag? What tag should be used? Please add your ideas in the comments.
Recently, I stumbled upon a DOPA News aggregator that you might be interested in adding to your feed reader. From the web site:
This webpage is a news digest of all the latest blog entries and news stories regarding the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), which would force schools and libraries that receive federal Internet subsidies to block all interactive websites in the name of online safety. The site automatically aggregates blogs indexed by Technorati, news stories indexed by Google News, and legislative updates from GovTrack.us. It was built using FeedDigest.
I’m guessing most of our readers subscribe to the YALSA blog, but in case you don’t, please be advised that YALSA is providing coverage of the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), but from the perspectives of a teen librarian. The latest news posted by Beth Yoke follows: Today the US House of Representatives passed the amended Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) bill by a vote of 410-15. The proposed legislation will now go to the Senate. The Senate may or may not have time to vote on this before their session ends for the year. In the meantime, you can help out in two ways. (read more on the YALSA Blog).
Hello friends! We had a great response to our call for new content so expect to see postings from new authors. Today I have the pleasure of introducing one of these new contributors. Please meet Matthew who runs the teen librarian UK web site and is working to build support for teen library services in the UK. In this first post, he offers pointers for starting up a teen library service. Welcome to the blog Matthew! — Stephanie
Working with Teens: Starting from the beginning (a few general pointers)
Teenagers often have a bad reputation in libraries – they either never come in or when they do they sometimes cause problems and as such become unpopular with library staff. This places them in a difficult position as they are no longer children and they are not yet adults. Because of this they are in a bit of a blind spot as there are no specific services offered to them. Junior Libraries usually have children’s librarians in to organise events and make the borrowers feel welcome and teach them how to use the library. Unfortunately when children become teens they are left to struggle through the library on their own until they become ‘adults’ in which case the general librarians step in to provide services.
By the time children have become adults they have usually wandered away because libraries are not cool, they do not offer them any services and they don’t feel welcoming.
These days the only reason many teens come into the Library is to use the Internet or they come in with their families in which case they hang around the adult or junior libraries looking bored and unhappy.
Offering a Teen Service
The knee-jerk reaction would be to start a teen service offering them all the extras currently extended to adults and children. This would include reading groups, dedicated teen shelving, special events and author visits aimed specifically at them as well as staff that are willing to deal with them on a regular basis.
While this is a good idea, doing it all in one fell swoop would be dooming it, if not to failure then to limited success. The reasons would be that after such an extended period of neglect, Teens would be unwilling to return en masse to partake of what is now offered to them. This could severely dent the enthusiasm of the people/person organising it
I have found that starting small is the best way to build up a group – maybe enticing three or four teens in at first and going on from there. Bribery and corruption is a good way to start – attract them in with chocolate and coke (or fruit and juice for the health conscious) although you must make sure that you have something interesting to maintain their interest and commitment to keep them coming back. This way you can develop a core of regulars who will spread news of the events to their friends, making them aware of teen authors and other services currently offered by the library.
Unfortunately a large number of the older teens are harder to reach, as they have been out of libraries for longer. But there are still those that use the library for study, Internet use and reading purposes.
To properly run a Teen group you need to first gain their trust (which is not an easy thing to do). This has to be achieved gradually – by being visible in the branch so you become a known quantity, helping with general queries – homework help, finding various books (usual Library work) and most importantly talking to them - not at them; and listening when they speak. Teenagers are very quick to pick up on patronising behaviour and it is next to impossible to make a positive second impression.
Too often when an initial reading event aimed at teens is organised in a Library, an outsider is used to hold the event and this can lead to what I call ‘the Lone Ranger effect.’ The lone ranger effect is when someone rushes to set everything up, holds the event, and then disappears — leaving everyone who attended wondering who the masked man was.
Adult Reading Groups are normally centred around reading one particular book at a time. With teens, however, I have found this to be nearly impossible (depending on the size of the group). Rather choosing a particular subject and organising a range of books, magazines and comics gives a wider choice of reading material and does not exclude those who are not as good at reading as the others.
Please send a fax to your member of the House Wednesday morning indicating yours and ALA’s opposition to DOPA (HR 5319). Below is a sample message that you can use or adapt for the fax.
To find out who your Representative in the House is & what their fax # is, go here: http://www.house.gov
July 26, 2006
RE: Opposition to H.R. 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA)
Dear Representative;
I write to indicate my opposition to H.R. 5319, the Deleting
Online Predators Act (DOPA). I understand this bill may come to the
House floor this afternoon and ask that you oppose this bill as it
presently reads.
No profession or community is more concerned about the safety of
children than our Nation’s librarians. Librarians in public libraries
and school library media centers work continuously to assure that
children have appropriate and safe access to the materials and
information services they need so that each each young person can become
literate and educated with the skills and knowledge to succeed in the
digital and online world.
I had hoped following the July 11th hearing on H.R. 5319 before the
Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the
Internet, that an amended version would seek to resolve some of the
problems expressed in ALA’s testimony. Unfortunately, the revised
language that ALA received only last night, does not make the necessary
changes that I believe would better serve the public interest and
contribute to true online safety for young people. As a voter in your district, I
urge opposition to H.R. 5319 for several reasons:
1. The terminology used in DOPA is still overly broad and unclear. As written, this legislation would block access to many valuable websites that utilize this type of communication, websites whose benefits outweigh their detriments.
2. DOPA still ignores the value of Interactive Web applications. New Internet-based applications for collaboration, business and learning are becoming increasingly important, and young people must be prepared to thrive in a work atmosphere where meetings take place online, where online networks are essential communication tools.
3. Education, not laws blocking access, is the key to safe use of the Internet. Libraries and schools are where kids learn essential information literacy skills that go far beyond computer instruction and web searching. Indeed, DOPA would block usuage of these sites in the very environments where librarians and teachers can instruct students about how to use all kinds of applications safely and effectively and where kids can learn how to report and avoid unsafe sites.
4. Local decision-making - not federal law - is the way to solve the problems addressed by DOPA. Such decisions are already being made locally, in part due to the requirements of the Children’s Online Protection Act (CIPA) for E-rate recipients. This additional requirement is not necessary.
5. DOPA would restrict access to technology in the communities that need public access most. H.R. 5319 still, as presently drafted, would require libraries and schools receiving E-rate discounts through the Universal Service Program to block computer users from accessing Interactive Web applications of all kinds, thereby limiting opportunities for those who do not have Internet access at home. This unfairly denies the students and library users in schools and libraries in the poorest communities from accessing appropriate content and from learning how best to safely manage their own Internet access in
consultation with librarians and teachers.
It should also be noted that key witnesses at the July 11th hearing, testified that limiting access to social networking sites in E-rate schools and libraries will have little impact on the overall problem since young people access these collaborative sites from many locations and over a period of time.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
(put your name here)
-Posted by Beth Yoke
Teens visit the library to get in touch with friends and catch up with the latest social news via the intarweb. They use web sites such as MySpace to message each other. But if DOPA goes into effect, only youth with home computers will be able to use MySpace and other social web sites, per the DOPA legislation. Please help prevent the digital divide from getting even larger! Do your part to prevent DOPA from being passed!
URGENT Action Needed: The ALA Washington Office has learned that the US
House of Representatives may try to expedite passage of H.R. 5319, the
Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), TOMORROW, July 26th. The bill is
moving forward as is, with no changes to the original language.
PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE’S OFFICE TODAY and ask that he/she
oppose HR 5319. The Capitol Switchboard number is: 202-224-3121.
Thank you for your efforts to ensure that all library users will
continue to have access to critical Internet resources via library and
school computers!
Video Gaming has started to become a popular thing in libraries over the last year or two. Video game collections are being developed and video game programming is all the rage. There are doubtless many reasons for this; however one of the top reasons for the popularity of the programming is that video gaming is largely a social event. The games that have become most popular for these programs are ones that 2 or 4 people play together, often against each other, such as Mario Kart, Smash Bros, or Dance Dance Revolution. These are all very fun games to play, but they are even fun simply to watch, and they all appeal to a broad range of people. In the case of Dance Dance Revolution it has the added benefit of being a physical game which seems to be a large attractor.
So, you’re probably asking what my point is. Well, there is a new system coming out in the fall or early winter, by Nintendo called the Nintendo Wii. This system is getting a lot of press because it is going to be a very different type of videogame system. It has two features that are very special about it that I believe are going to make it the premier system for library use.
The first important feature is the controller. On a normal video game controller you simply press buttons or a joystick to manipulate figures on the screen. The controller for the Wii however will work largely upon movement. It will use infrared technology to capture how you are holding or moving it and transfer that movement to the game. This means that when you are playing a golf game you need to swing the controller like a club to hit the ball, or in a shooting game you need to point it at the screen where you want to shoot. This movement takes over where the Dance Dance Revolution left off in adding a physical aspect to video games. Not only does it sound fun to play games like this but they will be ideal for a group environment. Just imagine watching four people violently swinging around their controllers like tennis rackets while playing in your library.
The second important feature of Nintendo in general, but also Nintendo Wii, is that the games are often for everyone. They try very hard to make games that appeal to both kids and adults. Not only do these games appeal to every one but they are trying to develop totally new types of games to appeal to non gamers, such as the elderly. If you don’t believe me check out “A Game for All Ages” in the May 14th issue of time magazine. If they can make games that appeal to more people, and are appropriate for all ages it would be the perfect system to use in the library. With budgets being the way they are many libraries can’t afford to have numerous gaming systems, so one system that appeals to many people is ideal. By the way, the Wii will also be significantly cheaper then its two counterparts the X-box 360 and the Playstation 3. It’s projected to cost about $200-$250 as opposed to the $399 of the X-box or the possible $500 of the upcoming Playstation 3.
So, librarians, be ready for the Wii. If you are already using video gaming in your libraries set aside some money for a Wii this fall and you won’t be sorry. If you haven’t already jumped into the world of gaming at your library, consider starting with the Wii, it will be a lot of a fun, and if you do it fast you might be the first place to own one in your area and the kids will come for that reason alone. For more info on the Wii check out Nintendo’s website or IGN.com.
Side note. While I don’t claim to be an expert on video gaming in libraries, I do know a fair amount about video games themselves, and about hosting tournaments or game events at least in small libraries. I however am not quite sure what you as readers want to or need to know. If you ask questions I can do my best at answering them and will know how to go about blogging on this subject.
Hello again. I received lots of helpful e-mails from awesome folks wanting to help out with Alt. Teen Services. But I did a silly web admin thing and lost all the e-mail. Oops. I guess that is what makes this site *grassroots*. Anyways, I hope everyone e-mails me again. Would you be so kind as resend correspondence to teenservices@yalibrarian.com and if that doesn’t work, try alt.teen.services@gmail.com.
Thank you for your patience!
A while ago (let’s say six months ago) I started a web site called Alt. Teen Services. And well, I never intended it to represent my ideas alone. I envisioned a collaborative web site with a network of teen librarians, library students, and library staff sharing ideas, resources, and passion about working with teens — all spun together in a lovely grassroots 2.0 package (with a sprinkle or two of riot). But lately it has been back to square one with little to no helpsome help but not enough. The design is okay, but help with content is needed in the form of personable writing, such as posts about daily experiences and interactions with teens. I hope to have content about:
Working with GLBTQ youth
Personal philosophies of teen services
Rants and raves about the job
Excitement about working with teens
Ideas about serving the underserved
How and why to include alternative materials in the collection
And whatever you might be thinking of in the back of your head.
What am I saying? Everything qualifies! So this is an official call for new content. I’m looking for new people to get involved with the web site and I don’t care if you are a library student, retiree, professional, staff worker, patron, or even a teen. As long as you enjoy working with teens in library environments and have something to say, then I would love to hear from you. If this offer sounds appealing, please contact me by e-mail: teenservices@yalibrarian.com. I’m looking for anything from one-time postings to consistent content providers. OK - now onto rocking out!
Hello friends. I have stumbled upon a new blog that is already a part of my rapid reading list. This honorable mention is a music blog with a large focus on teens and is cleverly named the Amplified Library Blog. Recent posts have discussed the death of the record store, the Pandora music service, and news from Vibe and Rolling Stone. Thanks to Jaina and Erika, I can now lighten the reading load of music news.
And onto the (dun dun dun) week in review! This is my new attempt at compiling the various blog posts and news articles related to teen library services into one happy place. Week in Review, July 10– 16
I was happy to read that Carleen handled a less-than-normal reference question with such tact. Carleen posts about this interesting reference interview on her blog.
Kelly Czarnecki talks about what teens are doing at the library on an average Friday afternoon. She also provides a write-up about how to get teens involved with book reviewing.
Stephen Abraham posts the key findings of the new PEW Teens and the Internet report. He also posts an interview with YALS about what we can do to improve our services to teens.
Sophie Brookover presents a summary of the ALA 2006: YALSA Leadership Development session.
Teresa Koltzenburg writes about DOPA and provides some links for further reading.
Youth Services Librarian Jenine Lillian had over twenty teens show up to her Anime and Manga program at the Fayetteville Public Library and the event was covered in the small town’s newspaper.
Has your teen library program made it in the news? Would you like to share an experience on the blog? Please contact teenservices@yalibrarian.com and we’ll post a write-up.
While browsing a collection of vodcast links , I came across the youtube profile for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County. There are three videos produced by the library, which include the previously promoted Summer Reading Commercial, a video of Teen Mystery Night, and a commercial for a Soul Calibur tournament. The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County is the only system I know that produces a somewhat steady flow of video content to promote library programs and services to teens. (If there are any other examples, please let me know!)
The Teen Mystery video is a must-watch. It looks like a program that took A LOT of hard work. There were too many suspects to choose from!
Teen Publishers are using new technologies to promote their products to the tech-savvy readers. Penguin and HarperTeen each launched a summer read web sites that features podcast author chats among other interactive web features.
Librarians might be interested in listening to these podcasts in order to connect with the authors and build upon existing relationships with teen literature. Why not listen to the podcasts to pick-up some interesting factoids that can be used as literature conversation pieces with teens?
This summer read web site by the Penguin group features a music playlist to accompany each novel. The site is equipped with podcasts of authors chatting about characters, music, and the ideas behind the stories.
HarperTeen also offers a summer read website with digital author content. From the web site, “Get the inside scoop on 15 fabulous writers of Girls Fiction all summer long. Hear exclusive audio from bestselling authors like Meg Cabot, Louise Rennison, Rachel Vail, Melissa De la Cruz, Jodi Lynn Anderson, and more!”
Beth Galloway posted a presidential program overview on the YALSA Blog.
The upcoming year will be full of busy celebrations and projects. 2007 marks the first Teen Tech Week celebration and YALSA will turn 50 years old!
Judy Nelson’s new presidential focus Still Reading After All These Years challenges us to use our librarian powers to eradicate negative stereotypes about teen literature. This especially applies to the misconception that teen literature is simply “fluff and nonsense.”
Pam Spencer Holly’s presidential report can be downloaded in PDF format.
Booklists distrubted at the conference can be downloaded from YALSA. Ooooohhh, goodies!
Thanks for the report Beth! Now if I could only watch the presidential program and key conference programs online…
The Alternative teen services blog is maintained by teen librarians who share ideas, resources, and advocacy about serving teens. By sharing our ideas in a fun and supportive environment, we will gain perspectives that improve our library services to teenage youth.
magazine, or less, usually averaging between about $2 to $4 dollars an issue. If you can buy an item for just $2 and it circulates even 5 or 6 times, that was $2 dollars well spent. 
The first important feature is the controller. On a normal video game controller you simply press buttons or a joystick to manipulate figures on the screen. The controller for the Wii however will work largely upon movement. It will use infrared technology to capture how you are holding or moving it and transfer that movement to the game. This means that when you are playing a golf game you need to swing the controller like a club to hit the ball, or in a shooting game you need to point it at the screen where you want to shoot. This movement takes over where the Dance Dance Revolution left off in adding a physical aspect to video games. Not only does it sound fun to play games like this but they will be ideal for a group environment. Just imagine watching four people violently swinging around their controllers like tennis rackets while playing in your library.
So, librarians, be ready for the Wii. If you are already using video gaming in your libraries set aside some money for a Wii this fall and you won’t be sorry. If you haven’t already jumped into the world of gaming at your library, consider starting with the Wii, it will be a lot of a fun, and if you do it fast you might be the first place to own one in your area and the kids will come for that reason alone. For more info on the Wii check out 
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